Secrets Don't Stay Buried
by bluebirdchaos
Summary: Sookie returns home after two years, when she receives a phone-call from her brother telling her of their grandmother's death. Along with her return, she has to come to grips with knowing that whatever has been buried in the past doesn't stay buried forever, especially when the person involved is her bossy and possessive childhood friend Eric Northman.


_"Sookie, Gran's dead. You need to come back home."_

At first, Sookie didn't quite believe it. Even as she sat there in the airport, waiting for her brother to pick her up, she still couldn't quite believe it was truly happening. Her older brother had called her the night before where she received the unexpectedly unpleasant news, and although hours had passed for her to come to terms with it, she still hadn't quite believed. Her brother, Jason, who she hadn't heard from in over two-years since she left her hometown of Bon Temps had called her miraculously out of the blue to let her know of her beloved Grandmother's passing of breast cancer, at the age of sixty-four.

Sookie was dreading returning home. On one side of the coin, she was looking forward to seeing her brother again and catching up with his life.

On the flip side, she felt terrible that her Grandmother's death was what it had taken for her to finally make her return. It wasn't her older brother she was dreading seeing, but the wrath of someone else who tormented her during childhood. She was almost positive there were going to be some incredibly tough trials ahead of her, all because of this certain someone. She wasn't looking forward to it.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, telling her that her brother had finally reached the airport and was waiting outside in his red pick-up truck. Sookie slung her bag over her shoulder, took in a deep breath, and exited the airport. Her brother's car stood out, and Sookie caught herself smiling at how even his truck hadn't changed. It was the very same model and the weather-beaten red exterior she had remembered from two years ago, before she left the town. Jason wound down the window on the driver's side, stuck out his arm, and waved to her. She waved back to let him know she knew he was waiting.

Just as she crossed the road to approach his truck, she froze immediately. She felt her stomach clench as another person climbed out of her brother's truck. Sookie wondered why she was so shocked that he had taken the drive to the airport along with Jason to meet her; Wasn't he exactly like a brother to her, although not quite in the same way Jason had been? She only caught sight of the back of the person, of the wrinkled blue shirt that clung to broad, squared shoulders and the frayed denim jeans, and although she couldn't discern his face, she knew it was him. She knew that long tall silhouette well. Sookie stood still, forcing her breath to stay steady and deep, as he at last turned to shoot a look over his shoulder into her direction. _There was no reason to panic. He no longer has any hold over you,_ she reminded herself. _You are older now. Back then, when you were kids, you let him taunt and tease you. But that couldn't happen anymore. There is no real reason to be afraid, to let him walk all over you any long_er.

Sookie straightened out her shoulders and started the long walk towards the truck. She tried to remember how long it had been since she last saw him. Two years and eight months. Christmas morning. The bitter taste of humiliation still lingered on her tongue, when she thought back to the exact moment she had decided to up and leave Bon Temps.

She could recall as though it was yesterday the morning she entered the living room on Christmas day. She still felt the flannel cloth of her nightgown as it rubbed against her skin. She could still feel the merry atmosphere in the air. She could still taste the champagne she had taken one sip of, before everything else was shot down to hell. The look on her Grandmother's face in response to what he had given her as a present; The way Jason looked as though someone had knocked him down without warning when he had slid down on one knee, said a few passionate words, and presented his gift to her. The champagne in her blood, making her feel incredibly bold as she gave him her answer:

_No, I can't. I have plans to leave, and there isn't a single thing you can do about it._

With a slight toss of her head, Sookie blocked out the memory expertly, focusing her attention on what was in front of her, the dregs of a past life she had left behind. Now she was back, and it was eventually going to bite her in the ass, she was certain.

As she neared him, she brought her eyes down to his gorgeous leather boots where they remained, until she was aware she had finally reached the truck and had no choice but to look at him and finally face her fears. She lifted her eyes to his face reluctantly, drinking him in. It was like a slap to the face, because he looked just as she always remembered he had. His eyes glistened a dark blue. He seemed taller than she remembered; towering over her in his signature jeans, boots and shirt combo, leaving her feeling uncomfortably small and vulnerable. She hardly reached his shoulders. His hair was shorter than she remembered it had been before; blonde, golden, copper. His mouth was halfway twisted as though he was making a critical internal observation on the sight of her again, but it spread into a small smile as he examined her outfit and face into memory again.

"Sookie."

He held his hand out to her, which she didn't shake out of fear he wouldn't give it back to her.

Instead, she tucked her hand into the back pocket of her jeans, and he took in this act of defiance with obvious annoyance. He had always hated any sign of resistance or trouble from her, and Sookie knew although they were older, it was still very much the same.

"Sookie," he said again crossly. "Where are your manners? Have you forgotten me already?" He moved closer and before Sookie knew it, he was wrapping his arms tightly around her and inhaling in the scent of her skin. "You look beautiful as ever," he breathed, his voice rough, and it sent unwanted chills down Sookie's body.

She stood still, rigid, letting him have his moment of embracing her, and then once she felt him pull away, she said belatedly, "Hey Eric, hey Jason." She was amazed by how normal she sounded, despite how nervous she felt internally. Tightening her jaw, she turned away from him deliberately to lean down over the truck through the open window to see her brother in the front seat. "So, what happened with Gran?"

"Why don't you two hop in already and I'll tell you all about it on the drive over, Sook?" Jason suggested.

She didn't glance up at Eric as she wrenched the door open to Jason's truck. But as she squeezed into the seat between the two boys' and kissed her older brother on the cheek, Sookie felt Eric's arm come up around her shoulders, like old times, and she had to tell herself sternly not to make a big fuss over it.

She couldn't help but feel she was preparing herself for the battle of her life in returning home to where Eric Northman was. Which, in a sense, she was. The three of them were adults now, after all. They couldn't stay children forever.


End file.
